Governor Hochul: “There is a huge disconnect between the reality we know that New Yorkers are facing and the perception of reality out of the White House… I know there's a lot of power in that Oval Office, but I'll put that power up against the power of six million pissed off commuters in New York City right there alone.”
Hochul: “Public transit is facing an existential threat from Washington right now, whether it's the overall funding or whether it is the attack on congestion pricing… New Yorkers do not back down — it's not in our nature, it's not in our DNA, it's not anything we're capable of doing. And I had an interesting trip to the White House. I did my very best. The fight's not over… We will keep standing up for New Yorkers.”
Great to be back here. Yes, I was the first Governor to go to an MTA meeting. I was also the second Governor and also the third Governor. I will probably be the fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth, because this is where the action is and whenever I have a chance to come out and look in the eyes of the MTA Board and say, “Thank you.” Thank you.
This is an entity that sometimes gets a lot of heat, and it takes courage to stand out there and put up with a lot of resistance. But, I admire each and every one of you for being part of this storied organization as we chart a future forward that many others had attempted in the past, but were unsuccessful. You are the ones who got congestion pricing done. I want to applaud every single one of you. So, thank you.
Janno and I share a distinction of being on a lot of covers of newspapers — not always the most complimentary, but you are also in the line of fire here and I admire, also, what you're doing in trying to lead us through these difficult times and to have the courage to say, “We believe that something is going to have these incredible outcomes,” at a time when there was no data; there was no proof of it other than research that had been done and studies, but the public did not know.
People did not know whether they could believe in this yet, and it's extraordinary to know how the psychology of the whole community has changed around congestion pricing. I can't tell you how many people tell me, places like Long Island, “I really hated the idea of congestion pricing, but it used to take me two hours to get to a Broadway play. And, guess what? It was so fast I couldn't believe it. I had time for another drink.”
This is how we're making New Yorkers happy. It's a real tribute to everyone here. I'm really grateful. And also to be in this beautiful place. Something that when you think about the great architectural achievements of the past in this city — and there are so many — sometimes you wonder, did we lose our ambition? Do we not have the vision to do something that is extraordinary and so powerful in its design? And we've met that ambition, the New York ambition, with this Grand Central Madison. I was proud to be here at the very opening and proud to celebrate this two-year anniversary.
So, to all of the people who work here, I just spoke to some of the people in the back and they said they're so proud to be here, and I hope you're proud of the fact that people are proud to walk through this building and know they matter. When you have architecture and buildings that show beauty and its incredible design, it shows that the people you're reaching out to matter to them and they recognize this. So, thank you very much.
Someone who I have enormous respect for. Another Cathy, another woman in leadership. I want to thank Cathy Rinaldi for everything she has done. We've ridden the train many times together. What you have done in creating a record of accomplishment and just the numbers speaking for themselves. Customer satisfaction means everything to me, and the fact that it's been improved with on time efforts — not just when you had to run the Metro-North, but LIRR at the same time.
That is something that women are often asked to do the job of two — you did it better than anybody could imagine, Cathy. So I want to applaud you for that. I have a proclamation to present to you. I have been a politician successfully long enough to know that we don't read every word of proclamations, so I'm going to let you read this when you hang out in your living room at home, Catherine. Thank you.
I just flew in from Albany and was able to hear some of Janno’s presentation on the success of congestion pricing, so you do not need to hear it again from me, but it's real, it is genuine, it is extraordinary. And it also calls me to recall that — think about the fact that public transit is facing an existential threat from Washington right now, whether it's the overall funding or whether it is the attack on congestion pricing.
One thing we've established: New Yorkers do not back down — it's not in our nature, it's not in our DNA, it's not anything we're capable of doing. And I had an interesting trip to the White House. I did my very best. The fight's not over, but I had considerable time in the White House and I want to thank my team for putting together what I envisioned.
I said, “I want something that encapsulates, in real simple terms, real nice pictures, what we're getting with congestion pricing.” So I was able to show this to the President behind his desk and talk about how beautiful it is: the Second Avenue Subway; big, beautiful Penn Station; the Interborough Express connecting the outer boroughs; “congestion pricing is working,” big words, nice colors; decreasing the trip times from New Jersey — New Jersey, New Jersey, New Jersey; it's all right, they'll make it up to us, they'll be appreciative — transit ridership; fewer injuries; traffic down; business up; more people visiting the districts than we've had in a long time; and the growth in visitation. So, there's a lot of nice things here — Broadway attendance; nice buildings that are recognizable. And, “together we will make New York fast, strong and beautiful together.”
We're not done. We are in court. We have said that, you may have asked for — orderly cessation was the phrase that came in the letter to us — orderly cessation. I will propose something in the alternative: orderly resistance, orderly resistance. We will keep standing up for New Yorkers, reducing traffic, air quality is going to continue improving.
But I also just need to point out that there is a huge disconnect between the reality we know that New Yorkers are facing and the perception of reality out of the White House. I guarantee that the President has never had to endure missing a child's sporting event because he was just stuck on a delayed train. Never had a stand in a flooded subway station because we're not able to make the repairs. Not sitting in traffic, missing an important meeting because you couldn't get around.
That is the reality of New Yorkers that we're solving for. That is our mission. That's why we cannot be deterred from what we're doing here, because we know the people of this great city in this region deserve nothing but the best. And when someone tries to say, “No, we have another vision for your city,” we just have to stand up and say, “We respectfully disagree,” and take that to the courts and take it to the people. Because I know there's a lot of power in that Oval Office, but I'll put that power up against the power of six million pissed off commuters in New York City right there alone.
So, onward and upward my friends. I feel very confident that we'll be victorious in the course because you all did your work. You did your work. And we're ready to take on any challenge that comes our way. And unlike the Republicans in Congress last night who got steamrolled into doing something that is harmful to people of this nation — indeed the Republicans from New York who did something that is harmful to their own constituents, willing to cut Medicaid.
That's another example of where we must stand up, and we will stand up. We will not be steamrolled the way they were in Washington last night, here in the State of New York. So that is my commitment to all of you and we're in this fight together, and I'm in it as long as it takes.
Thank you very much, everybody.
